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{
    "id": 1057022,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1057022/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 82,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to congratulate Sen. Kasanga because she never brings any matter to this House in vain. The Statement that she read was full of statistics and data that most of us are, probably not aware of. I do hope that the issues that she has raised will be given importance. I am suspecting that the same way she came up with the Mental Health Bill, this Statement would lead to some piece of pioneer legislation that will further entrench the rights of children to be free from abuse and all sorts of discrimination. Mr. Speaker, Sir, not too long ago, we heard the Cabinet Secretary for Education saying that we should cane children in schools. That was his prescription to issues of indiscipline, hooliganism and criminality in school. As a nation, we must recalibrate our sense of morality. The manner in which we were taking care of children in the past, things have changed. For the Cabinet Secretary to make a roadside declaration that “Let us reintroduce the cane in school”, that reeks of irresponsibility. There are certain statements that can only be uttered once there is a proper policy examination and assessment. It is not my view and I do hope that Sen. Kasanga is in no way implying that our children need to be caned even more so that they can be straightened. However, let us not mix the issues of upbringing of children in a traditional or contemporary African society with abuse. Mr. Speaker, Sir, meteorologists are telling us that the rains are coming next week. If our children were not in school, assuming they were still out of school the way they were for one year, there is nothing wrong for a parent to induct a child in agricultural activities. Involving your child in ploughing the field out in the village is not abuse. It is training him/her and giving him life skills. Engaging your child in fishing activities is not abuse, it is giving him life skills. We think that bringing our children up is about them sitting before a television, a phone, a tablet and playing PlayStation. I will disagree with those Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and those civic society actors who think that the contemporary African way of bringing up children is akin to abuse. A line must be drawn between the abuse, which is the caning, sexual harassment, deprivation of opportunities for our children and legitimate processes of bringing up our children to be responsible members of society. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}